Travellers planning a trip to or from Australia today are being warned to expect delays as airport custom workers walk off the job for a second consecutive day.
Immigration and Border Force staff stopped working during peak this morning and will do so again during peak this evening. The strike will impact eight Aussie airports including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood said major delays have been reported at Sydney, Perth and Cairns, with passengers waiting in longer lines than usual.
“We’ve had reports from Sydney Airport of up to 500 people in the departures hall.”
Nadine Flood, Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary
“Staff who returned to work tell us there were delays of up to 90 minutes.
‘That’s unfortunate, but these staff feel they have no option other than take more serious strike action.’
The group are protesting alleged propositions to cut existing take-home pay packages by up to $8,000 a year.
“These are mums and dads who are worried about paying their bills,” she said.
According to Flood, the group would rather sit down and resolve the dispute without disrupting passengers, however that requires ‘the government coming to the table’.
Further strikes are planned for the rest of the week at Queensland’s gateways, including Brisbane International Airport, Gold Coast Airport and Cairns International Airport.
Tonight, crew will strike from 6.00pm to 9.00pm at Brisbane Airport and Gold Coast Airport, while Cairns will see workers walk off the job from 5.00pm to 8.00pm.
